fijis 3-some government

The world of the three legged mutation (aka Fijian government) becomes more and more fraught with errors and infighting. Sitiveni Rabuka has gone from being a leader to a shambles as his decisions and so called “PM’s perogatives” are challeged daily by his own government, opposition, the public and the military; the last one making it very clear it will not tolerate such flagrant displays of constitutional abuses for much longer. So much so, Rabuka chose to ignore the November 2 mutiny rememberance at the QEB barracks by giving it the widest berth possible – fleeing to the Western side of Fiji. The former PM who was the RFMF Commander at the time chose to attend and paid his respects to the fallen soldiers who gallantly protected him and the sanctity of the barracks. Rabuka chose to remain as far away as possible from the barracks given the fact he probably remembers that his life was nearly cut short by soldiers loyal to the Commander at the time who were so incensed by Rabuka showing up at the barracks during the shootout in an attempt to usurp the Commanders authority. Had the former Commander not stopped his men, Rabuka would have experienced (very briefly) what happens when a bullet from a military assault rifle hits human flesh.

Yet Rabuka chooses to continue his charade, believing that all is well and just like the proverbial ostrich with his head in the sand, Rabuka seems oblvious to the fact that everything around him is slowly falling apart. Every decision made by him, whether he is making it on his own or, a result of extremely poor advice given to him, is generally contrary to the constitution and is eventually reversed. In another normal democracy, the PM would immediately tender his resignation and step aside for someone else who has the confidence of the cabinet to take over the role. In Rabuka’s case, this would be impossible given his financial predicaments over the past years and the murky fact that he needs to get back on his government/PM pension. One cannot go back to collecting plastic bottles then selling it for cash after being a PM.

The NFP has chosen to remain silent despite knowing every decision being made by the PM is either contrary to the consititution or racially prejudiced to benefit one ethnic group. Kamal Iyer, the party’s secretary and ass-clown, chose to focus his attention on his long time rival party, the Fiji Labor Party (FLP), and put out a press release to belittle the party’s leader. The ass clown wearing the ass hat to hide his ass face was then put in his place by the FLP leader so he hastily retreated into his ass hole. Yet the NFP’s representatives choose to remain silent on all the decisions being made, despite one of its members being an Indian who also happens to be one of the deputy PM’s. One cannot forget Biman Prasad’s sexual proclavities towards the married woman of one of his former party members – the world has seen the WhatsApp messages and the police statements. To those who support the NFP, they should not forget how their sexually charged leader has sold them out for a cushy government job and loads of free business class air travels. They should also remember that their leader is propping up a PM who has gone on record publicly supporting the murder of thousands of children in Palestine.

For Rabuka, his days are numbered as rumours continue to grow on an impending move to file a no confidence vote to remove him. The military is also losing its patience with Rabuka as he goes through different motions of violating the constitution while his acting CJ misinterprets the law and stating the constitution has conflicting lines in it which are preventing the PM from making bad decisions.

The elastic band government

After a prolonged hiatus from writing, I have decided to put an article out now, given the various changes that have been happening in Fiji, all in a very bad direction.

From prominent businessman Umarji Musa being sentenced to a very lengthy term in a NZ prison (he was as bald so he was prepped and ready for this) for being some kind of Pacific drug lord (lots of cocaine and meth) and to Rabuka making every effort to ensure the success of his ethnic cleansing activities with the removal of anyone who is not a Fijian from key government and judicial roles.

The highlight of the moment is that the former PM and the Police Commissioner (suspended currently) have both been found innocent of any corruption charges and it came as a relief to many, given the RFMF had already hinted what would happen to Rabuka and his cronies if any attempts were made to send either of the senior ex-military men to prison. In addition to this, the magistrate obviously realized the huge confusion arising from the lack of understanding by the lead investigator (who’s primary language is not English) which resulted in a failed attempt by the government do convict Frank Bainimarama, thus preventing him from contesting the next general elections. For the former Attorney General (currently abroad), this is a clear indication the governments attempts to use the judicial system for its peverse purposes is going to fail.

Nonetheless, this case has clearly shown both local and international observers that the Rabuka and his stooges are ubusing the judicial machinery, twisting it and trying to bring about legal charges in an attempt to silence their critics and opponents. The appointment of Filimoni Vosarago, Alipate Qetaki and John Rabuku to key legal positions in government are illegal. FV has already been charged three times by the ILSC for various issues which resulted in the suspension of his practicing license. JR has also been charged by the ILSC and tried to subvert the ruling by feigning illness; this not having any effect and the ILSC ruling against him. Finally, AQ was also charged by the ILSC and had his praciticing certificate suspensded for a period. In all these cases, the charges generally revolved around the abuse of trust funds and improper practices.

Section 96-2-b of the Fijian Constitution is quite clear on these public appointments – they are illegal and a reference from the constitution is provided here for the reader to interpret (highlights mine).

Attorney-General
96 (1) The Minister appointed as the Attorney-General is the chief legal adviser to the Government.
(2) A person is not qualified to be appointed as the Attorney-General unless he or she—
(a) is admitted as a legal practitioner in Fiji and has had not less than 15 years post-admission practice as a legal practitioner whether in Fiji or abroad;
and
(b) has not been found guilty of any disciplinary proceeding involving legal practitioners whether in Fiji or abroad, including any proceeding by the Independent Legal Services Commission or any proceeding under the law governing legal practitioners, barristers and solicitors prior to the establishment of the Independent Legal Services Commission.

In the case of the three men above, they are all disaqualified as their ethics are questionable and they have been proven by the ILSC to be guilty of being influenced to undertake corrupt and ethically skewed practices. Yet, the lure of the Fijian dollar has become a fixture for the three men and none have chosen to speak up and accept the illegality of their appointments. More perplexing still is the complete silence from the Fiji Indigenous Bar Association (FIBA or FIBbers if you look at it carefully) supporting the comments by the ILSC on the illegality of the appointments. If anything, this is clearly indicative of the position taken by the association in supporting treasonous, illegal acts by some of its Indigenous members. It is clear FIBA will put its members above the constitution, regardless of the legality of the situation.

As someone who knows the military might and thoughts, the military should be extremely aware of FIBA. They will attempt to add an incorrect legal narrative to any destabilisation attempts by enthno-nationalists or a government run by people such as Rabuka who are grasping at all the straws in an attempt to stay afloat as the constitution locks them out of performing anything extremely illegal.

It is clear to anyone watching the situation in Fji that Rabuka is struggling to keep all the political parties happy and his promises are becoming more and more difficult to fullfil. In addition to this, there are rumours of a vote of no-confidence being filed to remove Rabuka from his position before the year is out. It is apparent the support for him has faded and the general consensus is that Manoa Kamikamica should take over the reigns before things get worse. Biman will also need to be removed from his perch as there are glaring conflicts of interest, including a $1 million fraud (public money given to his wife and an ex-USP colleague Ganesh Chand), along with the very publicly exposed affair with the wife of an ex-NFP candidate which continues to be the talk around the proverbial grog bowl. The very salacious messages he sent to the individual indicates a there was a genuine attempt to seduce her and these messages are in the public domain for anyone looking to get further details.

Whichever way one looks, it is obvious that the very fact that Rabuka himself is in a compromised position means that the entire government is tarnished and his underlings are well aware of this. They have chosen to follow their leader and also drink from the poisoned chalice by engaging in various forms of corruption under the guise of “we’re not the FFP” chants to keep the public distracted.

The removal of the Rabuka led government is no longer just a desirable action. It should become the mantra and focus of every Fijian in Fiji to ensure their own livelihoods are kept intact.

when is the military taking control

Within the military and the general public, there is a slow but definite murmur of discontent. Since coming into power, the coalition government led by Rabuka have drastically increased the prices of goods and services, including those provided by government. Citizens have suddenly realized that they’ve removed one evil for a greater evil, all while under the delusion that Rabuka and Biman would be their salvation.

Papers released to the world via social media reveal the military is watching the situation closely and internal talks have commenced to step in and protect the constution which is being disregarded by Rabuka. It is apparent the current Commander is slowly losing the support of his colleagues and has weakly made a statement there would be no coup. While playing the role of a pacifier, the Commander obviously missed the inferno currently happening around him, a classic case of Rome burning while Nero fiddled. It is also apparent that when a removal of Rabuka and his band of drunkards are removed from power, the current Commander is likely to be ousted as well. A fundamentally weak leader who does not have the support of the military cannot be expected to lead a revolutionary change of power in Fiji when the time comes to take charge.

Sharan Grewal1 and Yasser Kureshi published an article [The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 63, No. 4 (April 2019), pp. 1001-1031 (31 pages)] analysing why coup’s are a necessary evil at times and the article can be located here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48597351?mag=an-overview-detat-are-coups-democracy-in-action. If a government has become a symbol of oppression, greed, corruption and all things they were not expected to be by the people who voted them in, then it is only a natural state of evolution that either the people will undertake a removal of the government through a civilian takeover or, use the armed forces of the country to lead the charge to bring normality and rid the country of the regime. It is often necessary for the armed forces to be involved as the discipline and planning they are familiar with will ensure a quick path is used and all bases are covered off when the plan is enacted.

In Fiji’s case, there is a growing certainity that a military led takeover is impending. The military is taking its time to feel the pulse of the nation to be absolutely certain that it is genuinely required to save the constitution and for the well-being of the people of Fiji. Such a move can be undertaken as per the 2013 Fijian Constitution, specifically section 131(2) [https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Fiji_2013#s2436] which states “it shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians.” In this case, it is clear the constitution is threatened and the people of Fiji are under threat. The military needs to move quickly, using section 43 (1-a:i/ii and b) [https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Fiji_2013#s804] which clearly outlines the provisions available to it when used in conjunction with section 131(2).

To ensure the removal of the government is successful, it is essential the stronghold supporters (civilans) are controlled immediately after the government is removed. This can be done through the implementation of military sactioned and manned checkpoints as well as curfews limiting movement in key threat points. It is also vital an interim government be formed immediately to return the country to civilian rule while new elections are being formulated. The existing acting SoE must be dismissed along with the acting Chief Justice as their ability to influence a fair and free elections would be apparent. Where absolutely necessary, persons identified as having the potential to influence an uprising or sway the public, must be detained. They should not be subjected to any abuses and treated fairly.

A key stakeholder in the removal of the government is the President of Fiji. He must declare his dissatisfaction and loss of confidence in the coalition government, formally signing their dismissal to ensure no future legal challenges. He must also appoint a new interim government which will lead the country into the next elections and manage the state of affairs. It is wholly up to the military whether to include any members of the current coalition into the interim government or, appoint new ministers as an interim measure. The President must then relinquish his role to the military who will either reappoint him in an interim capacity with the view to formalize the appointment when the new civilian caretaker government has assumed authority.

It is only a matter of time before the country goes into a state of complete anarchy and race based violence occurs. It is the requirement of the military, as per the constitution to step in and protect the fragility of Fiji’s democracy and its people from harm. It is simply a question of when and who within the military council intends to take charge of an action which in this case, is a necessary evil.

Removal of coalition

Having only written about the coalition government less then 24 hours ago, exposing the racist underbelly, Rabuka has called for the COC to be convened this Friday to formalize the appointment of the two FFP members. The appointment will ensure the opposition will be in a position to scrutinize this extremely poorly developed budget by Biman.

Anyone who understands finance or economics will easily conclude this is a budget which has been designed to cast a veil over the eyes of the everyday Joe. The budget is riddled with inaccuracies as it removes import/fiscal duties on some imported items while raising the VAT component to counter the revenue lost. It is another clear indication of the inability of the coalition to produce a meaningful budget that would have truly benefited the people of Fiji. Instead, the budget address itself was an opportunity for Biman to blast the opposition as he knew it would not be challenged during the speech.

70% of the speech was an attack rather then a professionally delivered presentation which was expected of someone who allegedly has a PhD in economics. It beggars belief that someone who has spent considerable time in opposition calling the FFP budgets useless, now produces one which isnt even fit to be called a budget. This is what happens when you put a man who has lived a life of theory, into an applied role. You get a complete failure. In the delirium, Biman decided to engage in a show of public self-gratification by congratulating himself on a job supposedly well done.

Naturally, the clapping was muted when the budget was delivered. After all, when you have a military baying for blood or murmurs of a possible takeover, people tend to start looking at moving abroad and securing their assets. It is a small wonder that in light of the rumors, Biman threw lots of money at the military in the form of a bribe to stay quiet. However, with the attempts by the government to remove the existing Commander by sending him on leave and replacing him with one that favors Rabuka and his stooges, it is still unlikely to change the course of action Fiji is heading.

The removal of Rabuka, Biman and the two mute deputy PM’s is essential and required for the good of the country. A sweep must be undertaken of all the board appointments made by the coalition and reversed. Where policies within the civil service have been changed to suit the personal agenda (and age) of the select few, immediate steps to rescind these changes must occur.

It is apparent the acts of nepotism, cronyism and corruption have crept back into the civil service, taking it back to the dark days of the Rabuka led government in the 90’s. It is apparent the acts of drinking grog on the job have become a norm, with civil service vehicles being used by paid government drivers to cart the grog-doped individuals home. If this is the change the coalition was promising to deliver, which is a change from the despised FFP government, then they have certainly delivered it successfully. Fiji has well and truly gone into the dark ages again where who you know will make you a very rich and wealthy person. And, if you know the ministers really well, you will be guaranteed contracts.

The coalition

The coalition government, having been power for just over 6 months now is starting to see various cracks appear in its frameworks. Keeping aside the blind faith of its supporters who flood the pages of anyone who is not a coalition supporter on Facebook with racist and veiled threats, I chose to start this page and hopefully maintain it as a log of things happening in the country.

It is shocking that people who do not support the coalition are being treated in such a manner and not allowed to support the party of their choice. It is even more shocking that the government continues to hide behind these people and use it as a yardstick to justify their continued ethnic cleansing of the senior non-Fijian leaders in government and statutory organizations. If Africa is anything to go by, this is just the beginning and the claims that SLR is a reformed man is a sheer barefaced lie. For someone who continues to publicly mull over the possibility of amending the constitution without parliament approvals and uses his power to prevent a full opposition lineup, Rabuka is still the old snake of 1987 and will deprive his opponent any opportunity to gain a foothold; sheer brute force and thuggery, commonly seen in basic military tactics.

For Indians, this government is a continuation of the manifest that Rabuka followed in 1987 and with his return to power, it is apparent he intends to complete his racist agenda. While the power of the government rests in the hands of SODELPA, very little is being done by SODELPA to demand any accountability for the actions of Rabuka and Biman. Why is SODELPA choosing to remain quiet? Is it because the racist undertakings of the government in the past 6 months all line up with SODELPA’s demands or is it because the members of SODELPA who are in power know their term is limited to one and are busy filling their pockets to carry them over through retirement?

With the various constitutional issues and breaches happening which are being highlighted by both the opposition members and those that Rabuka’s thugs have removed from their positions of employment, it is apparent this government has been up to no good. In fact, for those who complained the FFP hid things from the people of Fiji, it is nothing compared to the corruption currently underway within government while Rabuka and Biman turn a blind eye. Biman has soiled his hands in more then one way – selling out the Indian community by tolerating the ethnic cleansing underway by Rabuka and by also favoring his wife with $200K in the guise of Girmit celebrations which was given to a falsely registered institution. Yet not a single media outlet has commenced any analysis or investigations of this. It is one of the biggest acts of corruption in the existence of the constitution with Biman not even stepping aside to allow for an independent inquiry to be undertaken. Instead, Biman and Rabuka are busy running after the former AG and PM to ensure they are at least charged and convicted to prevent them from standing in the next general elections.

So, what recourse do those who are being illegally persecuted by the government have? Who do they turn to as their lives are ripped out beneath them? Many have nowhere else to turn to as the civil service has been their life. Many cannot find employment elsewhere as Rabuka ensures every dismissal is done publicly which tarnishes the individuals reputation both locally and abroad.

It is apparent the military has not been deaf or blind to the actions of Rabuka. Rabuka continues to foolishly believe that as an former leader of the RFMF, the military will do nothing while he continues down his racially biased and corrupt path in his quest to complete the vision he had in 1987. The military has long come to recognize Rabuka as a pariah and will not recognize Rabuka as “one of them” given his past history, which included his attempts to take over the military again through a mutiny.

It is also apparent the Commander of the RFMF is aware of moves currently underway to try and remove him from his role. Rabuka is well aware the military will continue showing him allegiance and will not bow to the government of the day, to be shackled and become the informal Gestapo of Rabuka and Biman. This is evident from the Commander’s silence when senior members of the military recently met with the former PM who was also the former Commander of the RFMF; a meeting from which the Commander was notably absent which raises further questions about what was discussed and why it did not warrant the leader of Fiji’s military forces being present.

If Fiji were to undergo another coup at this juncture, it would mean the existing government would undoubtedly be replaced by an interim/caretaker government which would largely be made up of FFP members. Whether the FFP members choose to join the interim government is anyone’s guess but it is highly likely the former PM would acquiesce to the request. The former AG would no doubt be caught in a legally/moral bind but would likely go in to ensure the legalities of the move are formalized and the government is able to function. Naturally, the military has no doubt also factored in the potential violence which could breakout if such an event occurs, ensuring there are sufficient reserves in place to quell any potential unrest.

If such an event occurs, the military also needs to factor in what to do with the current President who would lose his position automatically as well as the fact he is a senior traditional chief who commands a large following. Nonetheless, it is something the military has had to contend with in the past and will have to face this again. It should be remembered the military has sufficient experience with displacing corrupt governments and will do so successfully this time again.